Te Kuiti:

A contraction of the original name, Te Kuititanga, meaning “The Narrowing in.” A name coined in the Sixties, after the Waikato War, referring to the confiscation of Waikato lands and the narrowing in of the Maori territory, necessitating the dispossessed Waikato tribes taking refuge in the country of the Ngati-Maniapoto. Te Kuiti was the headquarters of the Maori King Tawhiao for some years after the war. The original name of the place was Tokangamutu; the large village here stood on the flat about half-a-mile to the south of the present railway station. Tokanga a large basket for food; mutu, ended or concluded.